Marketing Research

MKTG 440

Introduction

Agenda

Today’s topics

  • Marketing research
  • Course logistics
  • Brainstorm for team project

Please ask questions at any time

Marketing Research

What is marketing research?

Thoughts?

What is marketing research?

  • Marketing research is the process by which marketers gather intelligence in order to improve business decisions.

  • Marketing research is knowing what to measure, how to analyze those measurements, and finally how to communicate insights.

  • A class in 2 parts:

    • Part 1: What and how to measure
    • Part 2: How to analyze and communicate

Marketing research examples

  • What products and services do you regularly use?

  • What were some factors that influenced your decision to buy these products/services?

The scope of marketing research

Example marketing research questions

  • Related to marketing environment:
    • How are changes in consumer sentiment (e.g., inflation, job security, etc.) shifting category demand?
    • How does regulation (e.g., data privacy laws, sustainability-claim enforcement, etc.) affect our business?
    • What macro trends (remote work, AI tools, subscription fatigue) are expanding or shrinking the market?
  • Related to marketing strategy:
    • Which segment of customers should we target?
    • What is our brand image (what is our brand’s position in our customer’s mind)?
  • Related to the marketing mix:
    • In what media should we advertise our products?
    • How should we price a new product?
    • What kind of discounts should we offer, and to whom?

Course Info

Topics

Part I: What and How to Measure

  • MR process
  • Research designs
  • Scales and Measurement
  • Questionnaire Design
  • Sampling

Part II: How to Analyze and Communicate

  • Survey building in Qualtrics
  • Data analysis with R
  • Stats review
  • Hypothesis tests for differences and association
  • Data visualization

Weekly cadence

  • Monday meetings: new material
  • Wednesday meetings: new material, more practice
  • Sunday: assignments due by 11:59 PM

Mon

Tues

Wed

Thurs

Fri

Sat

Sun

Class

Class
Office Hours

Stuff due

Materials

  • D2L
    • Organized into weekly “Modules”
    • Slides posted after each class
    • Look at D2L
  • Qualtrics (2nd half of the semester)
  • R and RStudio (2nd half of the semester)
  • No textbook
    • I will provide additional readings for some topics

Grade allocation

Category Type % of Final Grade
Commitment 15%
↳ Individual assignments Individual ↳ 10%
↳ Peer evaluations Team ↳ 5%
↳ Thinking Forward conference Individual ↳ 2% (bonus)
Exams 40%
↳ Exam 1 Individual ↳ 20%
↳ Exam 2 Individual ↳ 20%
Project 45%
↳ GA1: Research Proposal & Team Charter Team ↳ 5%
↳ GA2: Qualitative Research Team ↳ 7%
↳ GA3: Quantitative Research Proposal Team ↳ 5%
↳ GA4: Qualtrics Survey Team ↳ 3%
↳ GA5: Analysis Proposal Team ↳ 7%
↳ GA6: Final Survey Team ↳ 3%
↳ GA7: Final Analysis & Presentation Team ↳ 15%
Total 102%

Commitment

Category Type % of Final Grade
Commitment 15%
↳ Individual assignments Individual ↳ 10%
↳ Peer evaluations Team ↳ 5%
↳ Thinking Forward conference Individual ↳ 2% (bonus)
  • Individual assignments (ad hoc)
    • Completion-based participation and practice exercises
    • Some in-class, some asynchronous
  • Peer evaluations
  • Thinking Forward conference
    • Required for all Marketing juniors
    • Feb 20, 2026, 12:00-5:00 PM

Exams

Category Type % of Final Grade
Exams 40%
↳ Exam 1 Individual ↳ 20%
↳ Exam 2 Individual ↳ 20%
  • Taken in-class, pen & paper
  • Multiple-choice, short answer
  • Test your understanding of concepts and ability to apply them
  • Challenging, typically makes the difference between an A and B in this class
    • But, will have review sessions, practice materials, cheat sheets allowed

Project

Category Type % of Final Grade
Project 45%
↳ GA1: Research Proposal & Team Charter Team ↳ 5%
↳ GA2: Qualitative Research Team ↳ 7%
↳ GA3: Quantitative Research Proposal Team ↳ 5%
↳ GA4: Qualtrics Survey Team ↳ 3%
↳ GA5: Analysis Proposal Team ↳ 7%
↳ GA6: Final Survey Team ↳ 3%
↳ GA7: Final Analysis & Presentation Team ↳ 15%
  • Based on a research topic of your choosing
  • Team formation: pitch an idea to the class, join team based on shared interest
  • Group assignments guide progress toward final presentation

Expectations

  • Make sure you receive D2L Notifications
  • Show up to class, the two exams, Thinking Forward
    • But, no need to let me know if you need to miss a class
  • Add these dates to your calendar:
    • Exam 1: Feb 25
    • Exam 2: Apr 22
    • Thinking Forward: Feb 20
    • Final presentations: May 4, May 6
  • Discuss and participate
  • Be a good teammate

Questions

Any questions?

About Me

Mini bio

  • Academic history
    • Undergrad at University of Florida ’14 (math & econ)
    • PhD at Duke University ’20 (econ)
    • Marketing faculty at U of Delaware ’20-’23
    • Marketing faculty at U of A ’24-
  • My research
    • Pricing and demand for internet access, subscriptions and free trials, how media piracy affects media consumption, how ads affect attention
  • What I’m into

Intro survey

  • Your first assignment of the semester
  • Takes ~10 minutes
  • Helps me get to know your background, what you bring to the class, and what you hope to get out of it
  • Link on D2L

For Next Week

To do

  • Do
    • Read the syllabus carefully
    • Complete the intro survey (by Sunday night)
    • Check D2L for reading material
  • Think
    • About Team Project ideas
      • Identify an organization, cause, new product/service, candidate, etc. that matters deeply to you
      • Brainstorm problems or decisions you/they have to make
      • Consider pitching this idea to the class in two weeks

Individual reflection and brainstorm session

  1. Identify a passion domain
    • What is an industry, firm, campus organization, workplace, new idea, cause, political issue, etc. that you care about or find interesting?
  2. Identify a challenge or decision within that domain
    • What is a problem or decision that this domain faces, where a better understanding of the consumer might help?
    • Examples:
      • ZonaZoo attendance (upperclassmen don’t attend football games? students leave basketball games after halftime?)
      • Reuse/recycling habits (how can we mitigate waste when students move in and out of student housing?)
  3. Discuss your ideas with your neighbor(s)
  4. Submit your answer to 1 and 2 at the link below